Starlit Caresses
by Kuribayashi
Summary: When Ruby and Penny are told that their departing flight has been cancelled, they decide to spend the night in the airport while they wait for the next one; a decision that would set the warm stars in both their hearts aflame.
1. A Change of Plans

**Author's Notes**

This story is based off of a recent personal experience when I decided to stay at the airport instead of accepting a hotel room when my flight was cancelled.

Also dedicated to Xekstrin for convincing me to write this.

Please leave a review; anything and everything helps. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One

"What do you mean the flight was cancelled?" Ruby cried out as she readjusted the strap of her bag that was hurting her shoulder.

The ticket associate frowned as he tapped away at his keyboard, images of the computer reflecting off of his glasses. "I'm sorry miss," he said with a sigh, "the flight was ordered to be grounded. There was a mechanical failure of some sorts in the engine. It wouldn't be safe to allow it to fly until completely fixed."

"Oh no! That's terrible!" Penny said with a gasp as she pushed up her oversized sunglasses revealing a goofy looking tan that outlined the borders of the glasses. She leaned uncomfortably close to the associate and looked him straight in the eyes. "Will the airplane be okay?"

The man leaned back and pulled at his collar. "O-of course. I'm sure the mechanics will be able to fix it."

"Sensa-_mmph_!" Ruby put a hand over Penny's mouth just in time to muffle her trademark cheer.

"When is the next flight?" the Huntress asked as she quickly scanned the overhead electronic board with incoming and departure flights. "We need to get back to Vale by tomorrow at 9:00 AM." 9:00 was the absolute latest. The class that they were both in started at 9:30.

"Let me see," the man said as he began to search through the database for an alternative flight.

Ruby let out a quiet groan and rested her chin on Penny's shoulder as they waited. Should she really even be complaining? The two of them had just spent their spring break at a upscale beach resort, a trip that was paid in full by the Schnee family. As Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss was required to fly out frequently to attend her father's business conferences. This led to her accumulating an ungodly amount of bonus miles, enough to pay for everyone's plane tickets. Whatever costs that were left over was graciously taken care of by Weiss's father who had eventually warmed up to his daughter's teammates over the course of their first year at Beacon Academy. Weiss and Blake decided to spend their spring break at the former's winter home in the mountains, while Pyrrha wanted to show Yang her hometown back in Mistral.

While it was no secret that Yang and Pyrrha were dating, the nature of Weiss and Blake's relationship was somewhat of a mystery. Although they both claimed they were going on a trip together because both of their teammates were occupied with their own vacations, the decision to spend the week at Weiss's secluded winter home alone was quite...questionable.

This of course begged the question as to what her own relationship was with Penny, seeing how they too, spent their spring break together. With her chin still resting gently on the latter's shoulder, Ruby looked up at her. The pink sunglasses Penny had bought at a souvenir shop now sat atop her sun-kissed orange hair. Along with the warm feeling that her green eyes and slight tan gave off, Ruby thought back on the beach they were leaving behind.

But when Penny began to slightly sway to the cheerful tune she hummed, an inevitable smile soon found its way back onto Ruby's face; it was only then she had realized that she was saddened by the fact that they were leaving. But she shouldn't have been upset. After all, she had a week long, all expenses paid-for trip with one of her best friends. As she breathed in the faint aroma of vanilla from Penny's clothes gave off, sleepiness pulled at Ruby's eyelids. One half of her wanted to collapse into a long slumber. The other half didn't want to let go.

"Ruby?"

"Ah!" Ruby yelped as she opened her eyes and took a step back to see Penny looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"Are you okay?" Penny said as she pointed at her chest.

Ruby's hands flew to her own and felt her cheeks redden as she felt the pounding beat of her heart. "Uhm-"

"Ahem," the associate interrupted by clearing his throat.

Ruby gave a sheepish smile and mouthed _I'm fine_ to Penny who smiled in return before both turning their attentions back to the associate.

"The next flight I can arrange for you two will be early tomorrow morning. Departure time will be 7:12 AM and arrival time will be 8: 19 AM. Will this do?"

"Is this the absolute earliest flight you have to Vale?" Ruby asked as she checked her watch. It was just now 10:11 PM.

"I'm afraid so. Since the flight isn't until morning, I can try arrange for you to stay at the airport's hotel for the night, but space is limited."

Ruby looked back to see the tired faces of the other passengers who were also in line to sort out the troubles that the cancelled flight caused them. She leaned towards Penny and whispered to her. "Do we need a hotel tonight? We could just sleep here in the airport and let the people behind us have the rooms."

Penny's blinking did the shrugging for her. "I'll go with whatever decision you make Ruby," she said with an energetic smile and nod.

Feeling as if the redness of her cheeks was showing, Ruby put a hand over the one facing Penny and shook her head towards the associate. "Thank you for the offer, but we'll just stay at the terminal until our flight."

In between printing out their new flight tickets and stickers for their suitcases the associate scratched his head. "Are you two sure? There_ is_ a hotel-"

"Yes!" Penny interjected with beaming eyes. "We will spend the night here instead!"

The man pushed up his glasses and chuckled. "Okay, but if you happen to change your mind, please come back and I'll see what I can do for you two." He then tied the new stickers onto their suitcases and put it onto the conveyor belt. "Here are your tickets."

"Thank you!" Penny said excitedly as she took both tickets and began to look over them. "May I hold onto them Ruby?"

Ruby playfully pushed Penny's sunglasses down over her eyes and smiled. "Of course you can."

Together they headed back to security, hand in hand. One of them excited as anything to spend the night in a beautifully lit airport, the other one glad that the wonderful sights and smells along with the tint of the sunglasses took attention away from her own reddening cheeks.


	2. Promises

**Author's Notes**

Here's chapter two of this short series! I originally wanted to wrap this up in three chapters, but realistically I think I'm leaning towards four or five instead.

In other news, I'm absolutely in love with this story. I really am. I hope by the end of this story, you too, will fall in love with not only this story and its characters, but the crossroads of life we humans call airports.

Please leave a review; anything and everything helps!

* * *

Chapter Two

"Gate one-one-five," Penny repeated out loud as she continued to look for the signs that would lead them to their gate.

After insisting that she wanted to find their destination, Penny had gone ahead a few paces while Ruby followed behind. While initially focused on leading them to their destination, it was expected that she occasionally veer off course.

Like a child who had stumbled upon an emporium of delights, she dashed around, pointing at colorful signs and pressing her face up against shop windows to look at whatever was on display. Her frequent relays of observations back to Ruby drew all sorts of attention, but the latter didn't seem to mind at all; her mind was far too occupied with a certain someone.

If not for the suitcases and shoulder bags that everyone carried, the Moonlight Ray could have easily been mistaken for an indoor night market. While it was common for airports to become ghost towns late at night, tonight was quite the exception. As spring break came to an end, thousands of people were making their way through the colorfully lit terminals, whether arriving or departing. Cafes, restaurants, newspaper stands, book stores, souvenir shops, and many more were all kept open to accommodate the surge of travelers.

Before their trip together to the resort, Penny had never been inside an airport, much less seen one due to her strict upbringing. As a result, just about everything within the massive facility seemed to amaze the Puppeteer. As she dashed off once again to look at a store that sold jewelry, Ruby let her mind wander as she looked up the night sky that was visible through the airport's glass ceilings.

* * *

After they had acquired their new flight tickets, they had to go through security to reach the interior of the airport. Like everyone else, they were asked to empty their pockets before stepping through the security scanner. Penny went first, but as soon as she stepped through, the buzzer suddenly went off.

Dressed in a sea-blue uniform and an eight-pointed cap, a female transportation security officer motioned for Penny to exit the scanner and to stand to the side. Looking at the screen that showed the scan's results, the officer gestured towards Penny. "Ma'am, do you happen to have something in your right pocket?" she asked sleepily.

Penny reached into her pocket and retrieved a lollypop. "I don't get it," she uttered with a look of horror in her eyes. "I thought lollipops didn't have metal in them."

What started out as a crude snicker soon turned into a guffaw that the officer made no attempt to stifle. So genuine was her laughter that as she leaned on the scanner to support herself, her cap fell off, revealing two cream-colored canine ears.

"Jackie!" a gruff-looking bald man in the next checkpoint over snapped. "Quit screwing around and get back to work!"

Jackie immediately straightened up upon hearing the man's command and put her cap back on. "Our scanners are very accurate," she said while still grinning. "They're designed to detect non-metal items now as well."

"Ohhh!" Penny said as the dread left her eyes and she returned to her usual chipper self. "Can I keep it?"

"Of course you can. Just remember to completely empty your pockets the next time, okay?"

"Okay!"

After they bid their farewells to the officer and gathered their carry-on items, Ruby glanced back at the officer, both happy and concerned for her. On one hand, she was happy that a Faunus such as herself had acquired the job she had. While low-paying, transportation security was still a government position nonetheless, which meant that it was a job that many Faunus could only dream about getting.

On the other hand, she was concerned as to how she would be treated. Even human officers were considered a hassle in the eyes of many travelers, and as a result, were looked down on. Ruby could only imagine how hard it must have been for a Faunus officer.

But what brought Ruby out of her state of worry was something that warmed the deepest parts of her soul and made her heart swell with hope; a fluffy tail of the same color of Jackie's ears wagged furiously behind her.

She would never forget that.

* * *

A reflected light shone into Ruby's eyes, bringing her back into the present. She had now caught up to Penny who was busy ogling a rotating display of rings behind the shop's window.

"Look, it's you!" Penny teased as she pointed to a ring with a ruby gem on top.

Rolling her eyes, Ruby gently pushed Penny. "Haven't heard that one before!" she attempted to say sarcastically but began to laugh halfway through when Penny gave the most tragic puppy eyes Ruby had ever seen.

Seizing the moment, she plucked off Penny's sunglasses and put them on. Grimacing exaggeratedly and dramatically crossing her arms, Ruby tried her best to exude an aura that would draw out the desired reaction.

It worked.

With an upset cry, Penny threw her arms around her and affectionately begged for forgiveness. One thing led to another and they were soon fighting over possession of the sunglasses, which Penny ultimately reclaimed at the end, but not after a fierce battle fought with tickles.

Sunglasses now tucked safely back over her head, Penny put both hands on her hips and smirked. "Ha-Ha, Ruby Rose! Penny is victorious once again!" she announced triumphantly, emphasized with a proud nod.

Before she could counter with a witty comeback, Ruby noticed that Penny's announcement of victory had attracted the slightly annoyed looks of passersby and the staff within the store. She then put a hand over Penny's mouth again and motioned for her to be quiet.

"Shh!" she said while giggling. "You're too loud."

Already holding her side with her other arm from laughing so much, Ruby felt tears gather at the corners of her eyes when Penny furrowed her brow into a mock expression of anger.

"You're a bully," the Puppeteer grumbled through the hand cupped over her mouth.

Riddled with guilt even though she knew Penny was joking, Ruby pulled her into an embrace regardless. Counting down as soon as Penny returned the embrace, Ruby knew that she only had a few moments before she had to pull away. With an answer in mind that appealed to both the situation and her own flourishing feelings, she whispered her answer.

"I love you too."

The Huntress then pulled away and cleared her throat as she wiped away the tears in her eyes. Doing her best to pretend as if she hadn't actually said those words she had never said to her best friend, she turned away and refocused her attention back to the display window. Penny blinked a few times before turning to face the display as well. Together they silently watched the beautiful rotating display, admiring the rings that shone like stars.

A few seconds passed before Penny broke the silence. "Ruby?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, Penny?" Ruby replied, trying to sound calm and collected.

"Why do people get married?"

"W-wha- I-I mean...e-erm..." Ruby stuttered at first before scratching her head, not sure what to say. She was totally caught off guard.

"I'm sorry," Penny said as she looked over at Ruby. "Was that a strange question?"

Ruby shook her head. "No no, it's a perfectly normal question." She paused to lick her lips and look away as she felt the tingling sensation in her heart she fought so hard to control return. Penny's adoring, striking green eyes didn't help one bit.

"I-I don't entirely know myself, since you know, I'm not married...aha-" Her voice trailed off as soon as she paused to listen to her heart jump in her chest. Why now of all times? Ignoring it the best she could, she continued. "Um, but I think it's because when two people love each other very much, they want to spend the rest of their lives together."

"But what about the rings?" Penny said as she looked back at the display. "What do they mean?"

Ruby shrugged before chuckling nervously. "To be honest? I never really thought about it." She held up her left hand and gently placed it on the glass. "To me, I think that it's a reminder to those who wear it. A reminder of the promise that two people swore to be together for the rest of their lives," Ruby added in as she moved her ring finger.

Without hesitation, Penny placed her right hand next to Ruby's so that their pinkies touched. Instead of her ring finger however, she wiggled her pinky. "So it's like a pinky promise!"

Upon hearing those words, the world seemed to slow down around them as memories of the many people Ruby had exchanged pinky promises filled her mind: Weiss, Yang, Blake, Jaune and the others. Promises she had made as early as she could remember to as recent as her arrival at Beacon Academy. Simply incredible. The Puppeteer's ability to make her smile never failed, and soon the Huntress soon found herself smiling warmly back at Penny.

"Yeah. It's like a pinky promise."

"Excuse me-"

"Eeep!" Ruby whirled around to see a well-dressed man in front of them twiddling his thumbs. On his suit was the jewelry store's logo.

"I'm sorry young ladies," he apologized as he gestured to the windows, "but may I ask you two to refrain from touching the windows?"

Ruby followed his gesture to the window and saw that they had left behind noticeable fingerprints. "Oh my gosh," she said as she returned to the man, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's quite all right as long as you-"

"Tactical retreat!" Penny suddenly blurted as she grabbed Ruby by the hand and whizzed her away from the shop and the man. Guided quickly through a large group of travelers, Ruby soon lost sight of them both. Soon dodging people left and right and jumping over suitcases here and there, the two of them were soon overcome with exuberant laughter.

"Where are we going?" Ruby shouted as she gasped for air.

For a split second, Penny looked as if she had just remembered that she left the stove on back at home. Her expression was soon replaced with a grin and a shrug. "I have no idea!" She then gave a thumbs-up gesture as a goofy act of consolation.

Like children chasing the moon that filled their hearts with joy and wonder, the two of them disappeared into a sea of wandering travelers.

Simultaneously lost in the present but safe and sound in each other's hearts.


End file.
